Building and engineering firm Metallurgical Corp of China (MCC) said yesterday that it plans to pay $200 million in cash for up to a 5 percent stake in Resourcehouse ahead of the Australian commodities group's planned Hong Kong listing.
MCC, which helped build Beijing's "Bird Nest" Olympic stadium, has also won a contract to manage a Resourcehouse coal project in Queensland known as China First, as well as rights to receive a 4 percent commission based on 30 million tons of annual coal sales, the company said.
Resourcehouse, controlled by Clive Palmer, one of Australia's richest men, obtained initial approval for its IPO from the Hong Kong stock exchange and plans to start its road show in the first half of 2010, MCC said.
Palmer said in November last year that he hoped construction on the coal project would start in 2010, and mining would begin in 2013.
"Resourcehouse controls huge resources including coal, iron ore, railways and ports," MCC said in the statement. "The investment is not only in line with the government's 'outward bound' strategy, it is also strategically important to entering the resources market in eastern Australia."
MCC said its planned investment in Resourcehouse is pending approval from the Chinese and Australian governments, as well as Resourcehouse shareholders, and is subject to a 12-month lockup after Resourcehouse's listing.
Reuters-China Daily
